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{
    "id": 966661,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/966661/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 160,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Deputy Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "there is an un-vacated court order barring him or her from setting foot in the office until his or her criminal trial is heard and determined? Does barring of the governor from accessing the county office render the governor absent, within the meaning and context of Article 179(5) of the Constitution? Neither the Constitution nor the County Governments Act or any other national legislation I am aware of defines or otherwise elaborates what constitutes absence of a governor. The Black’s Law Dictionary defines the word absent as “being away from;” “at a distance from;” or “not in company with .” The Oxford English Dictionary, on its part, defines the word absent as an adjective to mean, “Not present in a place, at an occasion, or as part of something,” and as a verb to mean “go away” or “remain away .” The word absence is used in Article 179(5) of the Constitution as an adjective, describing the noun county governor as being not in a certain place; the place is not defined at a given time, not present or missing from such a place. To my mind, although there has been no further clarification by the Constitution, the County Government Act or any other law that I am aware of, as regards to the time of absence, a contextual interpretation of the term as used in Article 179(5) of the Constitution supports a conclusion that the provision refers to physical absence of the governor, such as the governor being physically away from the county they serve for a considerable period of time. According to these definitions above, there appears to be no basis for interpreting the adjective “absence” as used in Article 179(5) of the Constitution, to refer to a situation where a governor is unable to access the county office as a result of a Court order, as is currently the case with the respective Governors of Kiambu and Samburu counties, who are undergoing criminal prosecution. If a governor facing criminal charges is barred by court to access the county office, it is because the office has become a scene of crime, which is made out of bounds for suspects and also to preserve evidence and to protect the scene of crime from interference from a suspect of the crime in question. The governor has not ceased to hold office and also is not absent, because such a governor is in the county, except that he cannot enter the office. As I will say later, in fact, he can enter that office daily so long as he has permission in the court order we are talking about. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) can allow the governor, on a daily basis, as many times as possible for a supervised access to the office. By the courts prohibiting the respective governors from accessing the respective county government offices, the respective governors have been asked not to go to the physical locations of their respective offices in Kiambu and Maralal towns respectively. This is because Section 6A of the County Governments Act provides that for each of the 47 county governments, their headquarters will be located at certain places, if you remember the law we passed on county headquarters. For Kiambu, it is Kiambu Town; and for Samburu, it is Maralal Town. So long as the Governor does not go to the office in Kiambu and Samburu respectively, they can hang around the county and the town, but not access the office unless they have permission, concurrence and supervision. They still hold office of the governor and they may be present anywhere in the county. They may perform the functions and exercise the powers of their office from The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}